Armenian Nuclear Power Plant: USNRC Assistance Programme for SeismicUpgrade and Safety Analysis

摘要

This paper summarizes the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissions’s (USNRC) technical support programactivities associated with the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant (ANPP) safety upgrade. The USNRC program, integratedwithin the overall IAEA-led initiative for safety re-evaluation of the WWER plants, has as its main thrust the technicalsupport to the Armenian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (ANRA) through close collaboration with the scientific staff atBrookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). Several major technical areas of support to ANRA form the basis of the NRCprogram. These include the seismic re-evaluation and upgrade of the ANPP, safety evaluation of critical systems, andthe generation of the Safety Analysis Report (SAR). Specifically, the seismic re-evaluation of the ANPP is part of abroader activity that involves the re-assessment of the seismic hazard at the site, the identification of the Safe ShutdownEquipment at the plant and the evaluation of their seismic capacity, the detailed modeling and analysis of the criticalfacilities at ANPP, and the generation of the Floor Response Spectra (FRS). Based on the new spectra that incorporateall new findings (hazard, site soil, structure, etc.), the overall capacity of the main structures and the seismic capacity ofthe critical systems are being re-evaluated. In addition, analyses of critical safe shutdown systems and safe shutdownprocesses are being performed to ensure both the capabilities of the operating systems and the enhancement of safetydue to system upgrades. At present, one of the principal goals of the USNRC's regulatory assistance activities withANRA is enhancing ANRA's regulatory oversight of high-priority safety issues (both generic and plant-specific)associated with operation of the ANPP. As such, assisting ANRA in understanding and assessing plant-specific seismicand other safety issues associated with the ANPP is a high priority given the ANPP's being located in a seismicallyactive area. This activity is somewhat unique, as the ANPP is currently the only reactor of its kind operating in such aseismically active area.